On Monday February 15 in Madrid, Judge Baltasar Garzon will convene an investigation of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity allegedly committed by U.S. government officials and others during the Bush administration.
The first witness called to testify will reportedly be American international human rights lawyer Dr. William F. Pepper. Dr. Pepper, who for twenty years convened the International Human Rights Seminar at Oxford University, stated that he was, “asked by the Court to file an Opinion and testify as an expert on the issue of jurisdiction of the Spanish Court with respect to the various crimes being alleged.” He may also testify as to his opinion on the validity, or invalidity, of the most likely defenses to be offered by defendants should criminal charges result, namely ‘Sovereign Immunity’ and ‘Superior Orders’ (more commonly known as ‘The Nuremberg Defense’).
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“… from the U.S. government’s own documents and the public statements of its leaders, that there is prima facie evidence of the following crimes: >>>>>
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Dr. Pepper is expected to be followed to the witness-stand on Monday by two former Guantanamo detainees. >>>>>
And This:
Torture Lawyers on Trial?
February 11, 2010
Meanwhile, across the ocean, a Spanish judge opened a formal criminal investigation of Bybee and Yoo in January for their role in authorizing torture tactics at the detention center at Guantánamo Bay. The judge, Baltasar Garzón, indicted Gen. Augusto Pinochet in 1998 for, among other things, authorizing torture while serving as Chile's self-appointed president, so he's shown himself unafraid to call torture something more than "poor judgment." In March 2009 Garzón took up a complaint filed against the lawyers; he has completed the initial inquiry and determined that a full formal criminal investigation is warranted. >>>>>
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